There the Continental
Congress adopted my stars and stripes as the national flag.

My thirteen stripes
alternating red and white, with a union of thirteen white stars in a
field of blue, represented a new constellation, a new nation dedicated
to the personal and religious liberty of mankind.

Today fifty stars
signal from my union, one for each of the fifty sovereign states in the
greatest constitutional republic the world has ever known.

My colors symbolize
the patriotic ideals and spiritual qualities of the citizens of my
country.

My red stripes
proclaim the fearless courage and integrity of American men and boys
and the self-sacrifice and devotion of American mothers and daughters.

My white stripes
stand for liberty and equality for all.

My blue is the blue
of heaven, loyalty, and faith.

I represent these
eternal principles: liberty, justice, and humanity.

I embody American
freedom: freedom of speech, religion, assembly, the press, and the
sanctity of the home.

I typify that
indomitable spirit of determination brought to my land by Christopher
Columbus and by all my forefathers - the Pilgrims, Puritans, settlers
at James town and Plymouth.

I am as old as my
nation.

I am a living symbol
of my nation's law: the Constitution of the United States and the Bill
of Rights.

I voice Abraham
Lincoln's philosophy: "A government of the people, by the people,for
the people."

I stand guard over my
nation's schools, the seedbed of good citizenship and true patriotism.

I am displayed in
every schoolroom throughout my nation; every schoolyard has a flag pole
for my display.

Daily thousands upon
thousands of boys and girls pledge their allegiance to me and my
country.

I have my own
law—Public Law 829, "The Flag Code" - which definitely states my
correct use and display for all occasions and situations.

I have my special
day, Flag Day. June 14 is set aside to honor my birth.

Americans, I am the
sacred emblem of your country. I symbolize your birthright, your
heritage of liberty purchased with blood and sorrow.

I am your title deed
of freedom, which is yours to enjoy and hold in trust for posterity.

If you fail to keep
this sacred trust inviolate, if I am nullified and destroyed, you and
your children will become slaves to dictators and despots.

Eternal vigilance is
your price of freedom.

As you see me
silhouetted against the peaceful skies of my country, remind yourself
that I am the flag of your country, that I stand for what you are - no
more, no less.

Guard me well, lest
your freedom perish from the earth.

Dedicate your lives
to those principles for which I stand: "One nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

I was created in
freedom. I made my first appearance in a battle for human liberty.

God grant that I may
spend eternity in my "land of the free and the home of the brave" and
that I shall ever be known as "Old Glory," the flag of the United
States of America.